Depending on what the goal of your trip is you might want to visit us a specific season. We open up in march and close down in mid october. For those of you that want to go all in for big numbers or giant cod, march and april is the given period. The best cod fishing in the world is found right in our fjord during this time. If you want to get as many good sized halibut as possible you want to come in autumn, september/october. If your goal is to catch a true giant halibut over 100kg you should definitely come here in may. That is when we have the best fishing for big halibut you can find. If you want to come here and enjoy Norway in nice weather and have good fishing for multiple species you definitely want to come here during the summer.
1/3-10/4 Prespawn skrei.
In the beginning of the year we have by far the best codfishing in the world right in our fjord and on the drop off outside it. Sørøya is completely superior all other destinations both in numbers, average weight and maximum size. The first weeks are rough. There are usually some heavy wind, temperatures below freezing and extreme amounts of snow. A trip in March is more of an expedition than a vacation and it is not for everyone. But there is a very big chance of catching giant Cod and you almost always fill your boxes in only a couple of hours. The quality of the skrei meat is also a little better in the beginning of the season in march. If that is your number one priority, march might be the right time for you. Other species are harder to target. Halibut fishing can be good but it can also be a long time in between the bites.
10-20/4 Postspawn skrei.
The cod starts to spawn in the beginning of april and after they do that they are much hungrier. They weigh a little less but they fight much harder. Cod over 25kg is still very common and its still very possible to catch a 30kg fish. The difference is that they would have weighed 35-40kg some time earlier. These are long, powerful and extremely impressive fish we are catching. The fishing is on fire and a lot of fun. And the weather is better than in March. For most people the post spawning fishing is probably much more fun than the pre spawning. The halibut fishing is still up and down in the shallows. But as soon as the weather starts to get a little more stable the giants are waiting for us on the outer reefs.
20/4-14/6 Giant Halibut in late april to early June.
Most of the skreicod is gone now. The codfishing is still good and the weather is getting better and better. The Halibut fishing is still hard and weather dependent. But the average weight on the outer reefs are out of this world and we are landing two meter plus fish almost every week. This is the time when you have a reasonable chance of catching a true giant. 200cm and over 100kg is the reasonable target. We have caught new camp records three years in a row and many fish over 150kg (around 225cm). We have long thought that these fish are just too unique to be a reasonable goal for a tourist to ever experience. But they arent. They are actually quite common in may at Camp Halibut even if that sounds completely insane. In 2024 we landed a new camp record fish measuring 253cm TL and 247cm FL. It is probably the third longest measured halibut ever landed on rod and reel. When we compare the spool of this fish with all other documented giants we can find we see that this fish is in a different league. It is likely one of the heaviest halibut ever photographed and we can only speculate on the weight. But it easily felt like double the size of a 150kg fish. The only fish that can compare is the old camp record of 248cm from almost the same spot same time on the year before.
You are never more likely to catch a 2m+ fish than at Camp Halibut in May. Big halibut fishing is usually like winning the lottery. It is thousands and thousands of hours between every 2 meter fish landed in Norway and it is very unlikely that you will see one of these fish. Unless you go to the right place at the right time. What you have here is good odds. Like playing a lottery and more than 20% of the tickets contain a 180cm+ halibut. Believe it or not, those were the real odds of landing a 180cm+ fish at this camp in May 2023. One group had a day when the five biggest fish in their boat was on average 103,38kg according to the halibut weight chart. In 2024 we had a week where three boats landed over 100 halibut with 25 over 140cm! Take a moment to process those facts.
Now with that said may is not for everyone. It is only right for those who have a very specific goal and understand that the big fish hunt does not usually mean a lot of action. It is almost always slow fishing. There is much less halibut in the shallows than later in the season and they prefer to stay close to great depths. This means that the area close to the camp offer slow fishing and we are quite weather dependent for the good results. A may trip is a gamble and you might have a poor result if the weather is against you. You might also have two 150kg+ fish in a day if you have the right timing. The fishing for wolffish is also great in may.
14/6-30/8 Mixed multi-species summer fishing and more stable weather
The summer really is an amazing time here. Great nature, as stable weather as you get up here and good fishing for more or less every species. The halibut fishing is very stable and can be exceptional some periods. It is usually more than decent just a few hundred meters outside the camp. The average weight is often better on the outer reefs close to greater depths but you are often able to catch a good amount of fish and really nice ones close to the camp aswell. The cod fishing is good but very limited to the outer reefs. Reis, Runningen, Råsa and the one and only Storskalltaren are the areas where you will find loads of 10-20kg fish. And there are summer cod over 30kg caught every year aswell. You will find cod close to the camp but it is mostly small fish under 10kg. The wolffish fishing is better in the beginning of the summer and they disappear completely around late july/early aug. At the same time the fishing for big coalfish and big ling is just getting better and better from june and forward. We have found a new ling spot where we have landed fish over 20kg every single attempt. Plaicefishing is stable and their condition is slowly improving throughout the summer. In july and august the haddock is coming in great numbers. The redfish is legal from 1/6-31/8 and the fishing is exceptional throughout that whole period. The summer is the best time to come if it is your first trip to Norway. You are getting a taste of everything and usually quite good weather. If you then want to target big cod, big halibut or loads of halibut you might want to book another trip earlier or later in the season.
1/9-14/10 Autumn fishing for Halibut and Plaice.
Autumn is by far the best time to catch halibut. They are moving far into the shallows and you can have great fishing in under 10-50 meters depth. There are more fish and better size around the camp and deep within the fjords. You dont need to go far to feel like you have a decent chance of a big fish over 150cm. The north side of the island does however seem to be the spot in Norway with the most fish. At least in decent size. When the fishing is really good you can have 20-30 landed fish per day if you know what you are doing. Sometimes even more than that. The average weight is great and almost all fish is over 100cm and 10-12kg which gives a great fight. The halibut fishing on the north side in september and october is loads of fun and if you have the weather to go you should not hesitate.
Storskalltaren is home to enormous amounts of coalfish, cod and ling and there are always giant Halibut out there. Its not as easy to get there as it is in may and june. And the bigger fish are harder to target since there is so much smaller coalfish. But the chance of hooking a giant halibut is probably bigger out there than any other spot in the world even in autumn. The plaicefishing is incredible in autumn and they are in much better condition than before. The cod fishing is really good on the outer reefs but the weather is sometimes a little tougher so they might be harder to target than in summer.